Qatar Airways strengthens its portfolio in China with the opening of Chengdu Airline Announces Thrice-Weekly Flights To Chengdu from March 2013. The Sichuan Province is already served with flights between Doha and Chongqing.
DOHA- Qatar Airways will offer from March 2013 up to 41 weekly services to China PRC and Hong Kong thanks to three weekly services to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. It will be the sixth gateway in the People’s Republic of China, beginning March 19 next year.
Qatar Airways has built up a solid operation in China over the years, currently operating 38 flights each week from its Doha hub to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Hong Kong.
These news is Qatar Airways’ sixth route announcement so far for 2013. Flights to Gassim in Saudi Arabia, Najaf in Iraq, Oman’s tourist spot of Salalah, Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and Chicago are being launched between January and May with further start-ups planned during the year.
With a catchment population of 28 million people, Chengdu is one of the most important economic, transportation and communication hubs in western China and deemed among the top 10 cities for investment out of 280 across the country.
Chengdu is the country’s western centre of logistics, commerce, finance, science and technology, as well as a hub for transportation, communication, manufacturing and agriculture.
The city has a strong industrial base, including heavy manufacturing, aluminum smelting and chemicals. Textiles are an important industry with cotton, wool milling and traditional manufacturing of silk and satin among the key business sectors.
Sichuan Province is also home to one of the rarest animals – the giant panda. In order to protect wild giant pandas, nature reserves have been established in and around Chengdu, including the Sichuan Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve, the largest of its kind in the world.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “Chengdu is another key city in a vibrant economy looking for more air capacity and we are delighted to announce our operations there from March next year. We are confident of buoyant business on the route, appealing to vital traffic flows linking South America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East to an important gateway in China – in fact our sixth gateway of Chengdu”.
“China is a market that is growing in stature and Qatar Airways will continue to tap into opportunities to expand our presence and provide more choice for our passengers travelling on business or leisure to or from China,” he added.
Qatar Airways will operate an Airbus A330 in a two-class configuration of 24 seats in Business and 236 in Economy on the Doha – Chengdu route. The aircraft features seatback TV screens providing all passengers in both cabins with the next generation interactive onboard entertainment system – a choice of more than 800 audio and video on demand options.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
